Running a trail marathon is hard. Especially when the last 12 kilometres are uphill and the finish is at 3.000 metres. But what if you have to cycle 195 kilometres before that, with 5.000 metres of altitude, including the dreaded Stelvio pass? And what if before that you have to swim 3,8 kilometres in an alpine lake that’s so cold you need help to get out of your wetsuit? That’s precisely what Claudia Striekwold is going to do. September 5 she’s taking on ICON; the Livigno Xtreme Triathlon.
Life is good at Hotel Interalpen on the Passo del Foscagno, between Livigno and Bormio in Italy. The sun is shining, it’s warm, yet cool enough to bike up the Stelvio, or to run one of the many trails up and over the surrounding mountains.
The hotel in the middle of nowhere is these days the home of Claudia Striekwold. The 37 year old Dutch triathlete lives here for a couple of months, to prepare for the ICON Livigno Xtreme Triathlon. She does that, the way Courtney Dauwalter prepares for her races; by feel. “While I’m here, I want to see every pass, climb every mountain. Yesterday I rode the Albula pass and the Julier Pass. I try to have two massage clients a day. That will cover my cost of staying here. I plan my training accordingly. Training schedules don’t work for me.”
One of the things she wants to focus on these weeks is trail running. “This year I’ve been working as a guide for Mallorca Cycling Holidays. I took people out for five to six days; cycling 70 to 150 kilometres per day. Sometimes I did two of those trips in a row. So, I’ve done a lot of volume on the bike, but I didn’t have a lot of energy left to run and swim as well. I’ve done a few runs, but more as a recovery training.”
These weeks she wants to put on her trail running shoes and makeup for that lack of training. “My goal is to run at least a couple of times a half marathon. That should be enough. I know, at the Livigno Xtreme Triathlon I have to run a full marathon, but only the first 30 kilometres are runnable. The last 12, up to Carosello, are so steep that you need hiking poles to get up there.”
She also picked up swimming again. “I went to Aquagranda in Livigno. I can’t remember when I swam for the last time in a swimming pool. In Mallorca I rent an apartment on the beach, so if I go for a swim, it’s always in the sea. I prefer that above the pool. Swimming pools don’t have fish.”
It’s the second time Striekwold is participating in the Livigno Xtreme Triathlon. A quarter to four in the morning the athletes have to place their bikes in the transition area. At 5 am, while it’s still dark, except for the light of a big campfire on the shore, the triathletes dive into Lago del Gallo for their 3.8 kilometres swim.
During her first Livigno Xtreme Triathlon the water temperature was around 13,5 degrees Celsius. These days it stands at eleven. “Let’s hope it warms up a bit. Normally it takes me around an hour and seven minutes to do the first leg. Last time, because of the cold, it took me almost 15 minutes longer. I was frozen when I came out of the water. Only after biking for 2,5 hours, I started to feel warm again. And I was already cycling in my winter outfit, with my gloves, overshoes and beanie on.”
After 9 hours and 40 minutes of biking, she started the final leg; the trail marathon. It took her 5,5 hours. Two hours more than during a normal triathlon. “All those single tracks made it difficult to run. Plus the big difference in temperature was hard. I started running in a singlet, because it was 21 degrees, but for the climb up to Carosello, at 3.000 metres, I needed to put on Gore Tex clothes. On the top, it was only 2 degrees.”
In 2021 Striekwold finished fifth. This year she hopes to make the podium. “2021 was my best race ever. This year it’s going to be more competitive. There are 50 women at the start, instead of 20, but I hope I can make the difference with my experience. Mentally I’m strong. When I’m racing and my adrenaline levels are high, I tend to make the right choices. And I’m always able to stay positive.””
The Livigno Xtreme Triathlon also differs from other races, because there are no aid stations and the cycling leg isn’t mapped out. “We’ll get a gps track, just before the race. That’s it. Every rider has a crew member following her or him by car. We have to take care of ourselves. The only thing I do have, is a drop bag with my running poles and warm clothes at the bottom of the last climb of the marathon. That’s it.”
The race is still a couple of weeks away, but Striekwold already has pre-race jitters. “These mountains here, around Livigno, are my paradise. Every summer I spent a couple of weeks here. And this race is unique. It’s so hard; mentally and physically. But completing it, is proving yourself that you’re capable of so much more than you think. That’s the kick.”
